Surprising Stuff, July 25, 2018

Surprising Stuff

The Yerkes Observatory, slated for sales oblivion in October, is trying to climb into the dead letter bin much earlier.
The beat goes on. The little group that was organized by some “friends of the observatory” have formed together to do what? Talk about the situation. These people, well-meaning and pretty well-heeled, are doing the same thing that the University of Chicago is doing. They are paying lip service to a problem that cannot be solved without a huge influx of liquid capital, as well as a continuing fund to pay for some pretty big operating expenses. There’s always talk of an “angel” investor or contributor. The reality of finding people with huge amounts of liquidity laying around is slim. Those kinds of people want a palpable R.O.I. That’s called “return on investment” in the business world. What will be accomplished by October 1st, and the deadline? Not much, if nature remains true to form. Is saving Yerkes a great cause? Absolutely! Einstein. Sagan. More. But those are interests of the heart, not the pocketbook.

In Hawaii, a friend of Obama’s who bought Robin’s Nest (the estate in Magnum P.I.) tore it down so Obama can build a chateau to his own taste. There’s no heart. In that such reality is what this small group of caring people have to overcome if they are to succeed at preserving this wonderful institution. What a grand cause. But also, what a monumentally and nearly impossible dream to fund!

Pearce’s Farm Stand Open

Pearce’s is open!Hooray! We love Pearce’s to bits!

The Country Thunder event is over.
Finally, again, with the same kind of muddy criminal but howlingly enjoyable effect. 419 arrests in four days and nights. So much mud nobody can measure it. A woman struck by lightning so devastating that it left a burned shadow of her body in the grass (she survived but has a long road ahead of her, as this issue goes to print). Is it all worth it? Is it worth putting up with and associating with the dregs of humanity attracted to the event, held in Twin Lakes? The judgments about that, no doubt, run the entire course of what is possible to make judgments about.

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